Birdwoman

New Drawings

2012-01-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

For the Teeny Tiny Art Show at Three Graces!

Illustration Friday: Stripes

2011-11-10T13:30:00.001-05:00

This week's Illustration Friday prompt is "stripes." I just can't resist messing around with idioms, Amelia Bedilia-style. I made this little drawing with graphite on two overlapping sheets of dura-lar:

In other news, I've finally posted some of my bird egg paintings for sale on Etsy!

First Frost

2011-10-26T11:55:00.001-04:00

A magical white glaze over everything this morning.

I found two new bits of treasure at the shop around the corner from our house.

Both pictures are from old stage productions. Ah, they make me swoon! I can't believe my luck!

Settling In

2011-10-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

We're finally starting to settle into our new home in Montana. It's a big change for this born and bred New England girl! I love the house we're renting, with it's big windows, claw foot tub and fancy yard.

And somebody cute turned one this month!

He wasn't sure what to make of the all the hooplah.

2011-08-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

Poor, neglected Birdwoman! I miss posting regularly. We're gearing up for a cross-country move to the Northwest Corner of Montana, so I've had to let some things (my blog, par exemple) languish a bit in order to maintain a State of Calm. The details of our move (exact timing, where, exactly we're going to live, etc...) are taking a long time to flesh out because 1) a large corporation is involved and 2) the company is based in Europe, and therefore its employees know how to take nice long, restful vacations.

I have been working a little bit on a series of small graphite drawings.

I love where the work is headed and I have about a million ideas for more images. Once we're settled in our new home, with things nicely tucked away and baby-proofed, I expect to have more time to work, and more time to share!

2011-06-17T10:54:00.001-04:00

Progress is slow but steady these days. I blame my baby for being such a fun little guy. Now that we're all finally getting some good sleep, and spending more time laughing than crying, amnesia has set in and I'm ready to pop out a hundred more babies. I have only vague, hazy memories of being completely overwhelmed by the newborn and early infant stages. Was all of that swaddling and yoga ball bouncing just a dream? I still find the occasional earplug tucked in a pocket, or rolling around the bottom of a drawer, that proves it was all real.

I'm also in the process of packing up my studio. I've decided not to renew my lease for another year. There's a good chance we might be relocating out west for a year or so, and even if we end up staying in Massachusetts, it's hard to justify the expense when I'm only going to the studio once a week. I always thought that if the time ever came for me to give up my space, it would be a sad, difficult transition--a regression, or even worse, the death of a dream. So I'm shocked to find that it doesn't feel that way. In the context of everything else, it feels like part of a new adventure.

2011-05-25T16:33:00.004-04:00

I've been working on this drawing for the last little while. Deciding to work in grayscale was originally a sort of compromise. It's so fast (compared to painting) that I can complete the kind of large, textured, detailed images that I crave in a reasonably short amount of time. Motherhood is making me practical. And while pragmatism is not the most romantic source of inspiration, I find I've fallen in love (again) with good ol' graphite. Really, I think it's just dreamy.

I thought I knew.

2011-04-08T10:08:00.000-04:00

After nearly six months, I thought I knew all there was to know about baby poop. My education on the subject began early on, when a particular projectile poop incident precipitated Robert's graduation from incubator to open air crib. That day our nurse was the one (and only one) who had a vaguely bad attitude, and who, when she witnessed our little redecorating scheme declared, "Well I'm not cleaning that up. Let's move him to a crib and see if he can maintain his body temperature." Poop lesson one: it's OK to make on-the-fly, seemingly willy-nilly, trial-and-error decisions when it comes to infant medical care.

Well, last Wednesday we had a multi-sensory poop experience unlike anything I've seen before. While I immediately got out my phone, took a picture of the wreckage, and sent it to my husband at work, I'll spare you the gory details. But like so many aspects of baby care and motherhood, it just goes to show, the second you feel like you've "mastered" the twists and turns of this crazy carnival ride, BAM! Everything changes. And we haven't even started solids yet.

Alien Pods and Penguins

2011-03-21T10:05:00.002-04:00

Some more elements sketched in.....

Ruins

2011-03-05T14:58:00.001-05:00

Getting a little bit further on this piece. I would have used my studio day a little better if I hadn't had to make an emergency run to Target for some breast pump parts that I'd left at home. It's very difficult to paint while engorged.

The Start of Something New

2011-02-22T18:23:00.001-05:00

Today was my first day back to the studio (in 4.5 months!) without le bébé. My mom is going to take care of Robert every Tuesday so that I can sneak in some studio time. I've had a big undersea piece in my head for a while. It will be interesting to see how the image unfolds, since there will be big, week-long chunks of time between each working session. One thing's for sure: I have never had a more focused work day in my life.

When I first walked into the studio and saw a little rattle lying in the otherwise empty Pack 'N Play, I confess, I got a little choked up. I haven't been away from Robert very much since we brought him home from the hospital. But I recovered quickly, and after about a nanosecond of basking in my glorious aloneness I was all, "Baby? What baby?"

I tried bringing R.J. to the studio with me a few weeks ago. Including our time in transit, it ended up taking me 4 hours to stretch one piece of watercolor paper.

My most astonishing feat on that particular day was getting R.J. to nap in the studio:

The nap only lasted 20 minutes, and I spent its entirety trying to quietly cut a piece of watercolor paper from a giant roll. I've never noticed how loud paper can be......And once I'd managed to cut my piece without waking him up, I realized that I was stuck and would have to wait for him to wake up anyway before I could start rocking the staple gun.

I've been taking these great new mom and baby classes at Isis Parenting. A few weeks ago one of the other ladies in class said, "I just want to take a shower without someone sitting and crying in a vibrating chair outside the door." Even though my literal shower this morning did, in fact, include someone sitting and crying in a vibrating chair outside the door, my metaphorical shower was very peaceful and productive;)

Did You See....

2011-01-18T11:46:00.002-05:00

the November Anthropologie catalogue? I've been meaning to post about it since it arrived two months ago! The art direction was rather fabulous:

A Little Personal Piece

2011-01-17T09:54:00.004-05:00

This is the first thing I've created (besides a freezer full of breast milk) since Robert was born. It's a personal drawing, a re-imagined story of this little fledgling.

My son had to stay in the hospital for 18 days after I was discharged, and I wanted to make something to illustrate that part of our story. When the little blue jay bombed out of his nest too early, his mother kept trying to feed him, and would dive bomb anyone who got too close to her chick. The awful part was that she seemed (pardon the anthropomorphism here) so sad. She would perch on the electrical wires directly above him and let out these awful, keening cries all day long.

During our early preemie days, when it was time for me to go home and leave Robert for the night, I couldn't help thinking about that mama blue jay. I probably sounded an awful lot like her too, sobbing my way down the Mass. Pike. And I would think about her each morning, on the way into the hospital, when I would become almost feverish if I got caught in traffic. Once I was in the hospital, it took incredible amounts of self control for me to refrain from body checking people out of path on my way up to the nursery.

But I knew that in the end, my own little early bird was going to be just fine, thanks to all of the high tech equipment feeding him and keeping him warm.

And now he's a little chubbalub:)

Over That Particular Hump

2010-11-22T12:27:00.000-05:00

I've come to terms with the fact that life is all about this baby for the next little while. He's a feisty one, seemingly unlike the mellow baby sidekicks of creative blogging moms out there like Janine. Robert's feedings are very, very frequent, especially during the night, and peppered here and there with bouts of acid reflux. I spend one hour sleeping, one hour feeding him and trying to get him comfortably back to sleep, an hour sleeping, an hour feeding, and so on. Of course, all of this is normal, healthy new baby stuff. It's not as though we have a sickly or colicky baby. In fact, he seems to be a sort of super-preemie. But when you throw in the additional (and somehow unforeseen) necessity of feeding and taking care of myself, it's enough to put my productive artistic life on hold for a bit. Another reason that I haven't been posting much is that I've been struggling emotionally with absolutely ridiculous, nearly crippling amounts of post-NICU anxiety. And, ugh, who wants to read about that? But I'm beginning to feel like a rational human being again. And I'm ready to start looking around the wide world again too. Because I trust (without having to check every five seconds) that he's still breathing.

Proof of Life:)

2010-11-16T10:19:00.002-05:00

On October 8th I spent the day at the fair. I LOVE the fair. And I meant to post all of these photos later that night, but things came up--like my premature water breakage and whatnot. You can read a nice, concise version of my birth story here if you'd like.

In any case, October and half of November have flown by virtually unrecorded on Birdwoman. So to catch up a bit, I spent most of October visiting my brand new, shiny baby in his fancy river view suite at Mass. General. And when I wasn't there, I was on my way there. Or on my way home from there. Or I was home and chained to my fancy hospital-grade breast pump. Which, despite its fanciness, is not hands-free. And so I spent most of October unable to type. And I've spent the first part of November adjusting to life at home with a new baby, which has been hard. Sleep-deprived is not a good look for me.

And so here we are. And here are some animal friends I met at the fair a few hours before all of the shennanigans went down:

So....A Lot Has Happened Since My Last Post....

2010-10-15T09:13:00.000-04:00

I'd like you to meet Robert James Able, born seven weeks early on 10/10/10, weighing in at 4 pounds 12 ounces.

He's doing great and making lots of progress every day. It even looks like he'll be able to come home pretty soon--within the next few weeks! The story of his arrival is a good one and I'll share it eventually once things settle down a bit. But for now, I'm heading off to the hospital for some snuggling!

IF: Beneath

2010-10-07T19:59:00.002-04:00

Here's a little ink and scratchboard drawing that I made in response to this week's Illustration Friday prompt, "beneath." I think beneath is kind of a creepy word, don't you? Creepy swimmy things hidden beneath the waves, slithery snaky things hidden beneath the rocks, etc.... What a perfect word to celebrate October's beginning. I decided to create an illustration of one of my worst childhood fears (there were many): freaky tentacled things hidden beneath the bed. I was a terrible sleeper as a kid. It wasn't until I went to college that I stopped being afraid (I'm talking panic-stricken) of spooky things in the dark.

In other news, my Etsy shop is almost ready to launch. Almost! I just have a few more policies to work out and little things to tweak, and then it will be up. We've been utterly consumed by birth and baby preparations these days. And napping. Well, I've been consumed by the actual napping while Charley's been consumed by the act of continuously telling me to take a nap.

A New Cast of Characters

2010-09-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a new mini egg portrait series that I'm going to put up on Etsy along with listings for custom orders. I'm planning to list some of my small drawings as well. My goal is to launch my shop by the end of this week, so stay tuned!

With two months left to go, I'm in the home stretch of my pregnancy (holy crippling exhaustion, Batman!) so it's the perfect time for me to be making small, more immediately gratifying things. I have a hard time pulling myself away from my work table when I'm in the process of working through a problem. And since making little things inherently requires less problem-solving than making big things, I can pull myself away more easily in order to give myself little rests throughout the day.

IF: Proverb

2010-09-16T18:39:00.003-04:00

Here's my interpretation of this week's Illustration Friday theme: proverb. The silver lining came out a little more gray and mushy than I intended, but I didn't want to let the perfect be[come] the enemy of the good [enough].

And here's where I am with my tentacle illustration. If you click on the images you can get a better look at the details.

I think that tentacles might be my new thing.

In the Beginning

2010-09-15T08:12:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I came up with the idea for this new piece and began working on it. I'm sort of in love with the drawing. We'll see how it translates into the finished painted version. I was tempted to leave the white ground alone and only paint the suitcase and tentacles, but I decided to take a leap of faith and see what happens:) If this turns into a flaming failure, I'll just redraw it.

Here's where I left it yesterday afternoon. Today I'll start by calming down some of the blooms and salt effects, and lifting some of the darker areas that are interfering with the composition.

I've been remiss in my blog reading lately. It felt good to check in with some of my favorites this morning and find these lovely bits:

Fish Soup, a poem on Chocolate Chip Waffle.
Cathy Cullis sharing a delicious work in progress.
A new Missed Connection by Sophie Blackall.
An enchanted cravat on ArtSpark Theatre.

IF: Dessert

2010-09-09T16:45:00.003-04:00

This little watercolor and gouache number is my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme, dessert. Delicious! Tragically, I'm allergic to strawberries, so Justice Strawberry Shortcake there on the right would make my tongue itch and swell up uncomfortably. But how she tempts me!

Et voilà! I finished this self-promotional piece this morning as well. Also painted in watercolor and gouache.

2010-09-08T07:45:00.001-04:00

Dancing light in the kitchen on Sunday morning:

And a self-promotional illustration that I'm working on:

I'm making a series of mock book covers and other illustration-y things to build up my portfolio. I'll probably finish this one today. Here are some details:

IF: Immovable

2010-09-02T19:53:00.005-04:00

It wasn't that he couldn't take a hint. Or even that he didn't want to leave.

This week's Illustration Friday submission for the theme "immovable," is inspired by real events. Here's the uncropped version:

And here's a little in-studio self-portrait that I shot today. For posterity. I've discovered that my enormous pregnant belly makes a pretty good little table when I'm working on tiny things:

The only trouble is that it jumps occasionally;)

These eggs are a commission that will be a gift for someone who is pregnant with identical twin boys. I'm thinking that I might put some of my eggs up on etsy, and also take custom orders. I really love making them for specific people, even if I don't know the peeps personally.

A Cat Among the Pigeons and Crocodile Tears

2010-08-31T08:56:00.002-04:00

Here are two more idiom drawing/paintings from last week:

I mounted them on panels that I'd coated with a deep, dark blue acrylic mix. Then I glued the paintings onto the panels with matte medium. Once the matte medium had dried a little, I coated the painting with two coats of a thin, watered-down layer of matte medium. The matte medium securely fixes the watercolor and gouache, and should give the piece some UV protection as well. You just have to be very careful to spray fix the painting before you apply that top coat, and then be very, very careful and gentle as you brush the gel on top. Otherwise the gouache will smear like crazy. When that happens I just touch up the painting with some acrylic.

IF: Atmosphere

2010-08-26T17:32:00.001-04:00

A super quick watercolor sketch for this week's theme. I was musing about medieval and futuristic conceptions of the universe. Ew, that sounded really pretentious;)

A Little Balance Goes a Long Way

2010-08-22T22:34:00.002-04:00

I made this guy today. I'm kind of in love with the way he turned out. I think he'll look really snazzy once I mount him on a panel. The boxes that I've been painting for the Teeny Tiny Art Show are more labor intensive than I realized they would be, and I've been fretting about finishing on time. I've also been feeling a little bit exhausted and icky lately. So I spent some time last night and this morning regrouping, and trying to think of a way to simultaneously give myself a break and make really good work. I decided to make a series of simpler, small works on paper to go along with the three boxes I've finished so far. I let myself (forced myself?) to be a little looser than usual with the ink and paint. I felt really balanced while I was making this piece–like I was painting skillfully without working myself into a frenzy of crazy perfectionism. I'm going to try that again tomorrow:)

Here are some shots of the boxes I've finished since my last post:

Anya guessed the idiom! That ghostly subtitle at the bottom reads: "The Tale of a Dubious Friendship." It opens up to this:

This next one is super tiny:

And the idiom is harder to guess. But can you? I'll give you a hint: what is the malevolent-looking girl on the left doing? The word "gesture" in the title is also helpful.

Slow Lettuce

2010-08-20T08:36:00.001-04:00

Last week my stepdad told me this story about a Bonobo named Kanzi, who was taught to understand and identify a limited English vocabulary. He expresses himself by pointing to words on a chart, creating whole sentences and even forming his own, new "words" by compounding those in his existing vocabulary. When he didn't have a word for kale, he named it "slow lettuce." How beautiful is that?

And here's a little peek at some more painting progress:

The Idiom Series....in Earnest

2010-08-18T07:30:00.001-04:00

I'm back in the studio with a vengeance! I've finished the first of my Idiom Series for the Teeny Tiny Art Show. The idea behind this body of work is for each painting to invite physical participation from the viewer. Each piece will be mounted on the wall like a traditional painting, but with little lids and flaps and such that the viewer can open and close. The text on the outside of the piece above reads, "Adventure on the High Seas: A Cock and Bull Story." Here are some side views:

I got started on my next Idiom piece yesterday. I recorded my progress throughout the day:

This one will have a lot of text. In case you can't read my messy journal scrawl, this piece will read, "Although he liked them very much, Reginald felt a bit awkward among(st?) his new companions. Whatever the occasion, he always seemed to be a little overdressed." I need to refresh my memory when it comes to "among" vs. "amongst." Can you guess the idiom that sparked the story?

2010-08-10T19:47:00.003-04:00

I've finally finished the inside of this piece.

The outside is still in progress, but I've sketched in the basic idea.

My latest crazy nesting project has been a merciless attack on my home workspace. In the two years that we've lived here, this little corner has functioned primarily as a sort of office supply and paperwork wasteland. And of course the place from whence I blog;) With a tiny baby well on his way (he's technically viable this week!), I've decided to make my home office corner more conducive to art-making. It's really nice to plunk down and just start painting in the little bits of time that I manage to scavenge before going to work in the morning, while dinner is roasting in the oven, after I brush my teeth at night. And maybe, come November, between feedings?

In a Yellow Submarine

2010-08-06T19:54:00.000-04:00

I made this Beatles-themed installation with my middle school campers this week. My own art-making always takes a back seat to my kid-teaching in summer. And rightly so, I think:)

IF:Double

2010-07-28T20:33:00.000-04:00

Here's a little sketchbook drawing that I made for this week's Illustration Friday theme: double. This image is my memory of a set of twins that I thought I saw at the gym one day. Not only were they sporting spectacular matching yellow running shorts, mustaches, sweatbands and fluffy hairdos, but they were also running in perfect unison. Those big wall mirrors can be really tricky!

Morning Moments

2010-07-25T11:23:00.001-04:00

Things have been crazy around here lately. I've been getting up early in the morning–earlier than I have to–so that I can enjoy a bit of quiet time to myself each day. This simple practice gives me an overwhelming sense of peace. It also gives me a chance to look around and just notice. I don't know about you, but I really need my daily noticing time. I feel like this is a good thing for me to keep in mind as motherhood approaches--only four more months to go until we meet this kicking little boy:)

This picture is a little bit of color and textural magic that I noticed last Tuesday morning while I was taking the trash out to the curb. For the record, this photo is a reenactment taken a few minutes after the original moment.

IF: Breakfast

2010-07-23T08:17:00.001-04:00

A super quick, early morning, last minute sketchbook drawing for this week's Illustration Friday theme, "breakfast." The caption reads, "She was known far and wide for her insatiable appetite." I had planned on a more abundant breakfast table, but I've got to get to work, and I think the double entendre works well enough with a sparser spread;)

A Teeny Tiny Piece in Progress

2010-07-21T19:45:00.002-04:00

I'm teaching all week so studio time has been limited. Hence my snail-like progress.

New Sketchbook Page

2010-07-20T07:45:00.002-04:00

The caption reads, "The ghost was always borrowing her favorite dresses without asking." This story fragment popped into my head one night last week when I was having trouble sleeping. Whenever I go through a little bout of sleeplessness, I use those extra waking hours to think up entertaining little things like this. It keeps me from tossing and turning and getting frustrated. Click on the image for a better peek at the whole thing. And here's a closer look at our protagonist's (perhaps too subtle) expression of quietly resigned irritation:

Just for good measure:)

2010-07-16T08:33:00.001-04:00

Someone I love to pieces is having breast cancer surgery today. We're very, very lucky because the tumor was caught early and is a highly treatable type. She should be OK after the surgery, six weeks of radiation, and then some years of medication. I made her this lumpectomy picture to take with her to the hospital. A few last words to those cancer cells. Well, a sort of cleaned-up version.

IF: Diary

2010-07-14T14:18:00.008-04:00

I found a little sketchbook that I made many moons ago. It's the perfect size for some Illustration Friday drawings:) I've been on an inspiration overload lately and I need to be contained. I think that limiting my IF submissions to one small book will help.

I love Cathy Cullis' Sketchbook Sunday posts, like this one, this one and this one.

I redesigned my blog this morning to give things a little more breathing space. ~~I'm thinking about a new header too.~~ I've created a new header as well.

Oh, and let me know if you're finding any annoying quirks as a result of my redesign;)

Home

2010-07-13T13:28:00.001-04:00

2010-07-12T20:27:00.001-04:00

I'm playing with English (language) idioms in my newest body of tiny works.

Can you guess the idiom?

In other news I've fallen hopelessly in love with a pair of moccasins. There's an article in the latest (utterly scrumptious) issue of Uppercase Magazine about Katie Kukulka's Darlingtonia Moccasin Company, and about her nifty, old-timey construction process. In two months I'll have enough "fun budget" saved up to get myself those green and purple "Tiger Lilies." I'll be seven months pregnant by then, and may not be able to see them once they're actually on my feet. But I'll know that they're there just the same;)

IF:Giant

2010-07-08T22:11:00.000-04:00

I just returned from my vacation in time to submit a little something to this week's illustration friday theme: giant. This is an old, old painting, but I like thinking about it in relation to this particular word. For one thing, it's relatively huge for a watercolor and gouache painting--about 46" x 29." And then there's the content....but I'll let you interpret that for yourself;)

In contrast to the weekly IF theme and the monster scale of some of my older paintings, I'm into making tiny things these days. This piece is the first in a series slated for the Teeny Tiny Art Show coming up at Three Graces Gallery.

Oh, and this is where I've been for the past week. It's a tough life, I know.

2010-06-27T11:53:00.001-04:00

I like this painting so much better as a physical page, as an object that you can hold in your hands, than as the digitized image from my last post. I'm thinking about a limited edition of little handmade books.

Here's a little preview of the next page. It will be a little while before I get to work on this more. I'm going to be teaching full time this coming week, going on vacation after that, and then teaching full time for four more weeks.

Lately I've been fighting hard against the fact that my mind has been flitting crazily, uncontrollably all over the place. But I had a little epiphany yesterday during my prenatal yoga class. Instead of fighting against my absent-mindedness, I just need to accept it and work with it to get through it. (Labor metaphor, anyone?) This is such a basic yogic principle, and I've always thought that I understood it, in a "yeah, yeah, I get it" sort of way. But in the context of being pregnant (which is a particularly physical context), I actually, really, truly get it. So far (in the last 24 hours, anyway) this approach has been working, and I've stopped feeling so overwhelmed and frustrated. I allowed myself to nest all day yesterday in completely superfluous ways. And I allowed myself to enjoy it. I can't explain why I needed to sweep the attic, but I can tell you that it gave me incredible peace of mind.

IF:Paisley

2010-06-24T21:27:00.003-04:00

As you can probably see, there are still several unfinished little details lurking about in my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme, "paisley." I'll get to those tomorrow. This is the start of a whole series I have planned about Great Uncle Archibald and his comically doomed first marriage. Stay tuned for a juicy scandal;)

Oh! And we're having a boy!

2010-06-21T17:08:00.000-04:00

Here's a teensy little peek at the very very early beginnings of my next body of work. This specific image was originally inspired by this week's Illustration Friday theme, "paisley." But my imagination got a little crazy and came up with a whole paisley story complete with pages and text and a whole bunch of illustrations. So that's what coming next. It's fabulously ridiculous. I think you'll like it.

Sunday Morning With a Lady Called George

2010-06-20T10:28:00.002-04:00

The neighborhood is so quiet and peaceful this morning, and I love our little treehouse apartment, with its big, breezy windows and cozy reading spots. I'm reading George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss and regrouping after one seriously rough week. Is anyone more brilliant and insightful than George? Or more hilarious? Sometimes, when I'm reading a really fantastic bit of dialogue, I get distracted by the genius of the writer, and start wondering about her. I have to reread a lot of passages.

I Matched

2010-06-15T10:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I unwittingly matched what I was working on. Even though this is a fun little commission, (which I still can't really show you) I'm still dying to plunge into my next project. At the same time, I can see that forcing myself to hold off for a few days is serving me well. Things have more time to percolate and develop and deepen this way.

My spring term classes come to an end this afternoon. I've had a charmed term this go 'round--such fantastic energy and chemistry in all three of my Tuesday classes. I won't have too much time to miss them though, since I'm teaching a ton this summer, and also in the fall, right up until the Tiny Spawn makes his or her appearance. Speaking of which, we'll find out next week whether it's a him or her:)

What's Next

2010-06-11T10:15:00.002-04:00

I always experience a little lull after a show opens. Pushing to complete a body of work, packing it up and shipping it off is both cathartic and scary. My studio is virtually empty--a deliciously blank space full of endless possibility. There are no loose ends trailing anywhere. I'm ready to begin something totally, wonderfully, brand new. At the same time, I always experience an absurd little pang of fear: what if that was it? What if I never come up with any new ideas, and I end up working in a bank or something equally horrific? This back and forth between excited anticipation and worry results in the lull. Luckily, during this lull, I had a commission to work on, and an ever-growing fascination with my unborn child's new little post-meal dance parties, to pull me through without too much fretting. I can't show you the paintings I've been commissioned to make, since they're a surprise. But I have figured out where to begin my next body of work. Here's what I've been looking at and thinking about:

Things with compartments and "doors," like this little card box I've had kicking around in my studio, holding my thumbtacks for a few years.

Narrative forms that open and close, like books, and specifically like medieval illuminated manuscripts.

And altarpieces. Altarpieces are big with me right now.

IF:Trail

2010-06-07T17:31:00.005-04:00

A trail of trailing hair for this week's theme. Click on the image for a better look.

My show at Three Graces opened on Friday! The gallery was packed, and people were very kind. Check out the trees that Kim installed in the space:

Photo courtesy of Kim Ferreira.

And here I am, trying not to blink and sporting a crazy flip at the end of my bangs:

Photo courtesy of My Mom.

You can take a peek at all of the individual pieces that are up in the show, and even purchase work (if you're so inclined) right here.

IF:Slither

2010-06-03T16:17:00.005-04:00

I've created a slithery snake dress for this week's Illustration Friday submission. Click on the image for a better look. The word "slither" makes me shudder, and I wanted to address that visceral, physical response in my drawing. Snakes are my absolute worst, over-the-top, fear. When I go outside part of my brain is on snake alert at all times, whether I'm hiking on a remote trail, walking across the front yard, or crossing a busy street in downtown Boston. You can never be too vigilant. This lady seems rather comfy in her snake dress, though, and is clearly not a fellow ophidiophobe.

My show at Three Graces Gallery opens tomorrow! The fabulous Kim Ferreira, who owns and operates the gallery (and who is also a fantastic painter), shares my love of whimsy. She has some really cool plans for the installation, and I'm dying to see the end result!

And have you seen these illustrations of craigslist "missed connections" by Sophie Blackall? I heard about them last week on NPR's All Things Considered. Needless to say, I'm smitten.

A Tiny Visitor

2010-06-02T21:39:00.002-04:00

Someone seems to have left the nest a little too early.He's been hopping around our yard for the past few days. His mom was still feeding him today, hovering nearby and dive bombing my head when she felt that I was getting too close.
I'm trying very, very hard to embrace the whole "cycle of life" concept, and the possibility that he won't survive!

IF:Early

2010-05-24T19:29:00.008-04:00

Oh, Illustration Friday, how I've missed you! The theme this week is "early." Click on the image for a better look. And here's a better detail for good measure:

I'm in the final push to get ready for my show. Happily, it seems (not to jinx myself here) to be coinciding with the second trimester "burst of energy" I've been hearing so much about. Pretty sweet timing, if you ask me. There's a lot happening on my work table:

This newest painting is becoming a sort of tribute to my stepdad, who is currently deeply engaged in his second annual chipmunk relocation program:
Here's a peek at all three paintings that will make up this little series:
So you can get an idea of where I'm going with this:)

Simple Pleasure of the Day

2010-05-21T18:20:00.005-04:00

Today I found myself wondering, "what simple pleasure is better than the process of brushing layer after layer of transparent paint onto a panel or piece of watercolor paper?" I came up with two top contenders, both of which are (surprise, surprise) food-related: ginger ice cream, and plain cheese Pizzeria Regina Pizza (from the actual North End of Boston, not the mall). What arty process is your favorite simple pleasure? And to what non-art delights does it compare? Extra credit will be given to all food-related responses.

Little Bits of Progress, Little Insecurities

2010-05-19T20:29:00.007-04:00

Today I started mounting my little sparrow series on panels:Conceptually, I'm not entirely sure what they're about yet, but they strike a chord with me so I know that they're about something. The house imagery on the panels is a form I borrowed from an older series that I created in 2007. Ah ha! I just figured out what these are about. I'll let you interpret them in your own way though.

I also finished these two paintings over the last few days:

I've been suffering from a teensy little bout of insecurity. This sometimes happens to me when I go a few months without a painting sale or a new commission. I'm also getting nervous for my upcoming show. How will the work be received?! What if I don't sell a single piece?! Ugh. These are things I don't like to worry about. But it would be disingenuous for me to pretend that I don't think about them, or that they don't matter;)

Afternoon Trees

2010-05-13T19:45:00.003-04:00

I worked more on these guys today. I'm calling this group The Afternoon Tree Series.

I've been cracking myself up with the titles of the individual pieces: Muriel Among Magnolias, Rhoda With Rhododendrons, Dottie Up the Dogwood (that's where I start to cackle), and Louisa in the Lilacs.
Here's a closer look at Rhoda. I finished her today. You might also notice some speckle-y evidence of my lazy photoshopping around the edges of the image.

Hopefully I'll finish this group tomorrow. Just as long as I can get my pesky eyes to stop constantly trying to close themselves while I'm trying to get things done.

New Work and Long Walks

2010-05-11T10:34:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I worked more on these:
I finished this one:This one is still in progress:

I've been enjoying cut paper wizard Jayme McGowan's exceptionally generous blog. I love that Tree Top has allowed her to post glimpses of their ad campaign as her work progresses. If I liked apple juice I would buy some of theirs during my trip out to California in July:)

Since Bikram Yoga is off-limits to me until early December (so as not to hard boil the spawn), I've been taking a lot of long walks around our hilly neighborhood for exercise. Before now, my walks were about getting from here to there in a pleasant, airy manner. But these walks are about seeing what there is to see, which I find not only pleasant, but also endlessly interesting. I'm fascinated by people's living spaces and by tiny, short-story glimpses into their lives, so much so that I think I might be turning into a sort of speed-walking, eavesdropping, peeping tom. Yesterday I caught a glimpse of an inside front staircase covered in decoy ducks. And last week I saw a man's hand pulling a front door closed behind him as a child's tiny voice just inside the door was saying, "I had a great day at Donna's house!"

A Fruitful Day

2010-05-07T22:19:00.005-04:00

Today was a lucky day, a fruitful day......a luckily fruitful day. Things seemed to come together easily and turned out just the way I'd hoped they would.

I finished The Woodland Chronicles:

I think that turkeys are extremely hilarious. And also wonderfully textured.

I finished the day by working on a new series–this group of cut paper collage paintings:

The two larger panels make up a diptych that I created a while ago. I've decided that it could do with some friends.

Twinkle, twinkle....

2010-05-06T18:24:00.001-04:00

...little bat.

2010-05-05T08:06:00.003-04:00

Can you tell who will be joining the gang tomorrow? The one on the left might be hard to make out, but I'll give you a fill-in-the-blank hint (courtesy of my stepdad):

If _________s thought, they'd run away

Just before Thanksgiving day.

But __________s can't anticipate

So now there's __________ on my plate.

A One-Two Punch

2010-04-30T17:37:00.005-04:00

My studio time these past two days has been utterly consumed by a one-two punch of pregnancy+allergy-induced exhaustion. After a bit of grumbling, I've decided to give myself a break and extend my self-imposed deadlines a little bit. I did manage to make this tiny illustration:

One of my adult ed. drawing students was one of the first coeds at Princeton when the school first opened its doors to women in 1969. She commissioned me to make this image, which will be printed onto buttons and handed out at her upcoming reunion.

I can't even believe how much time I've spent eating this week. So far, my own pregnancy has been a surprisingly realistic simulation of what I think motherhood might be like. For example, the following is an actual conversation that I had with my abdomen this afternoon:

Fetus: "MOM!"

Me: "Not now, Mommy's working."

Fetus: "But I'm hungry."

Me: "How can you possibly be hungry? We just ate lunch."

Fetus: "But I AM! I'm starving. I need you to make me a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Actually, two grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. But I want you to make them the way Daddy does. I don't want you to burn them. And I want you to eat them really fast, like you're in a contest. Because I'm really really hungry!"

I've already begun teaching him/her how to cope with disappointment. As I swiftly downed my (oh my god delicious) burnt grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, I pictured our kiddo throwing a little tantrum, or flipping me off with his or her tiny, newly formed hands, shrieking, "But that's not how Daddy makes it!"

I will post much, much more art next week;)

Open Studios

2010-04-27T08:14:00.003-04:00

Open Studios has come and gone. It was a fun weekend, full of visiting family, friends and nice new people too.I spent all of last Thursday and Friday making my side of the studio presentable. Hanging work (the super obsessive-compulsive way that I do it) is kind of intense. But I always find it rewarding to see everything up all together. It's also a good time to notice previously unseen connections--conceptual and/or visual.

When I have a show I hang my work much, much more sparsely than this, since there is so much going on in each piece. But this weekend I chose to create a riot on my wall.

A lot of these drawings were illustration friday submissions. Looking at them as a group and talking to visitors about them made me realize the crazy amount of inspiration that I got from participating weekly. I'm looking forward to the summer, when my schedule will slow down a bit (sort of), and I can put an end to my IF hiatus.

Here's a rare, intelligible glimpse of our entire space. Since I share my studio with another artist, it usually looks so cramped that a photo of it would just make your head hurt;)

And my little sister got engaged yesterday! I can't stop smiling:)

Finishing Touches

2010-04-23T08:28:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I finished my newest batch of egg paintings by attaching their hanging apparatus. This process involves driving a big pin into the back of each egg and making it into a sort of big thumb tack. I used to hate this part, and it used to take forever. But I worked out a new system sometime last year that involves hammering a tiny nail in first. I love to hammer stuff, almost as much as I love to work crouched in a ball on my studio floor. I used to make all of my huge paintings crouched on the floor like this, but I stopped to save my back later on down the road. It seemed fine to gnarl myself up when I was in my reckless twenties, but since I've entered my thirties, I've been thinking more about things like long term consequences. I actually used to sit right on the paintings while I worked on small details. It was dreamy, literally living in my paintings. Egg-finishing day calls for a crouching revival. And combined with hammering stuff, it's really rather delightful. I'm a big proponent of simple daily pleasures. Speaking of which, if you look close at the photo above, you can see that I'm wearing my Charlotte Brontë T-shirt made by Susan Sanford of ArtSpark Theatre fame.

I hope you're having a happy week, noticing and doing little things you like too:)

Brand New Things

2010-04-20T19:04:00.002-04:00

I'm in the final push to get ready for open studios. I've made a little schedule for myself, and so far I'm just half an egg behind;)

A Mostly Thinking Day

2010-04-15T18:30:00.004-04:00

I took all of these sparrow paintings out of their frames. The frames were dragging them down and something had to be done.I'm planning to mount them on square panels instead. I played around with different possibilities. When I held this guy up to this painting:

my heart sang a little bit:)

I spent a lot of time today playing around with my old photo collection. I have hundreds and hundreds of these pictures of strangers. I look for clues.

I also made this new pair this afternoon, keeping with the theme of sparrows and vintage photos.

Happy Tuesday

2010-04-13T21:05:00.003-04:00

Had a nice morning making some new eggs. Had a lovely afternoon and evening teaching lots of lovely people:)

Two six year-old twins in my painting class had the best conversation:

"I didn't know that squirrels had lips."

"Of course they do! How else would they be able to kiss and mate?!"

2010-04-10T09:31:00.002-04:00

Slow Greetings

This one is almost finished. I've just got to turn that guy in the distance around so he's peeking into the painting, instead of fleeing. While I'm at it I'll make his tiny shell more beautiful.

I've got a serious hankering for watercolor and gouache. I always go back and forth between my media. I get tired of one thing and switch, tired of the next thing, and switch. Generally, I cycle between watercolor/gouache/sewing, collage, acrylic, pen and ink, and pencil. I had some more acrylic pieces planned, but I've learned that with painting, things work best when I let my cravings guide me. So as my forest creature series comes to a conclusion, I'm looking forward to splish-splashing in watercolor, and sculpting forms in gouache for a little while.

I'm going to teach some private lessons at my studio this morning. I have three teenage girls who come every other Saturday to take lessons with me. These particular girls are so bright, good-natured, fun and creative, that I want to tap their parents' brains for future parenting advice: "How did you raise such a great kid? Did she just come that way, or did you use some sort of magic system? How can I get one as nice as her?"

Here are some beautiful and inspiring things that I've seen on some of my favorite blogs this week:

This piece, most particularly, by Jenny at Yarn Soup.

This werewolf by Susan at ArtSpark Theatre.

Nick Sheehy's work, posted on Pikaland.

The Woodland Chronicles Continued....

2010-04-08T20:51:00.003-04:00

Some new guys:

This turtle is my new love.

And the whole group together:
The Woodland Chronicles is the name of this series and also the title for my upcoming June show at Three Graces Gallery in Portsmouth, NH.

I have more on my plate than usual, so my posting is correspondingly lighter than usual:) I'm also taking a break from Illustration Friday for the next couple of months.

Oh, and if you live in the Boston area, come visit me at the Watertown-Belmont Open Studios on April 24th and 25th. My studio is located in the Arsenal Center for the Arts. There will be snacks! Someone once did admit that he'd only come to my opening for the snacks. He added that he'd just gotten out of prison and hadn't had real cheese in two years. That was the same opening where another man brought a tote bag full of his own paintings with him. He cornered me for about half an hour, pulling out painting after painting, pointing out the high level of skill required to execute each one. Finally, he took out his sketchbook and began flipping through page after page. He turned to a pencil drawing of a seashore and a lighthouse. It was very tiny and gestural, roughly drawn with thick pencil lines. He told me that if I'd had a magnifying glass, I'd be able to see that he'd drawn a tiny lighthouse keeper inside the lighthouse. And if I'd had a microscope I'd also be able to see that the keeper was wearing a tiny raincoat and holding a tiny lantern. Crazily poetic. Poetically crazy.

Happy Friday!

2010-04-02T17:39:00.003-04:00

Whew! It's been a blissfully breathless week around here! Before I dash off for the weekend, here's a little peek at how my Woodland Chronicles Series is coming along:

I changed the colors on this owl painting. I liked it before, but now I love it:
I spent the day beating my head against the wall over this new rabbit piece:
I like it OK, but I don't love it yet. Ooh! I think I just came up with a solution! Bring on the sandpaper! To be continued......

Frog and Toad

2010-03-30T19:59:00.000-04:00

A Few of My Favorite Things

2010-03-27T07:26:00.004-04:00

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's installation of Zebra Finches and electric guitars at the Barbican Centre in London.

Russo's. The bok choy....it's so cheap!

And some gorgeous new (to me) art blogs:

Cathy Cullis

Domestic Etch written by Elizabeth Goodspeed. The blog doubles as a teaser for her 'zine, also called Domestic Etch. I couldn't help myself, so I ordered a copy. It arrived yesterday. I'm smitten and convinced that you need one too.

New Giraffe City

Yarn Soup

Studio Happenings and Viovio Review

2010-03-26T09:05:00.005-04:00

Yesterday I resolved this painting:

Bad Raccoons

I started this one and almost finished it, but instead I decided to take a rest before giving a private lesson:

I also primed these:
My second proof arrived from viovio yesterday:

Their products are a fantastic value, but their customer service is rather sketchy and somewhat flighty in certain respects. For example, on the viovio website, it is clearly stated that books under 20 pages will be saddle stitched (like a magazine) because they are too small to be perfect bound. At the same time, the viovio website also strongly recommends formatting all full page spreads with an overlap in the gutter. It seemed to me that saddle stitched books would be an exception to this rule. I asked if this was the case on the viovio forums, and received a stunningly useless non answer referring me to the webpage that had inspired my question in the first place. So I decided to order two versions of the same book: one with the overlap and one without. When they arrived I saw that my suspicions were correct, and that saddle stitched spreads should not be reformatted. To viovio's credit, they did eventually respond to an email that I had sent, in which I had repeated the question I'd posted on the forum. The representative who responded wrote that she thought that I was probably correct. See what I mean about flighty? In any case, I had my clear answer in the results from my own little experiment. Now that my binding issues were happily resolved, I decided to work on a few color issues and redesign my cover. So yesterday, when the second proof arrived, I was happy to see that I'd done a much better job with the color and cover design. But here's the mysterious and sort of infuriating part: the new book, which is precisely the same length as the first version, was perfect bound. This made the spreads look a little bit wonky. But I ordered fifteen copies anyway, and included a note reminding them that it should be (according to their own policies) saddle stitched. I'll keep my fingers crossed. In short, Viovio offers great products at ridiculously low prices. Unfortunately, in my humble experience, their customer service is also ridiculous.

Nocturnal

2010-03-23T21:13:00.004-04:00

I feel like this painting is not quite finished. It needs a little more....something.....
But I really like how it relates to the rest of the series. The geese, rabbit ears and foxes are off to happy new homes, so the group has gotten smaller before it will get bigger;)

2010-03-21T11:21:00.006-04:00

Here's a peek at the sketches that will become the next two paintings in my forest critter series. This gang of potentially malevolent owls has been bouncing around in my head and my sketchbook for months and months. A while back I started working with a variation of this image in a large painting on paper, but I've put that piece on hold for a bit. I'm too in love with making tiny things at the moment. So in love, that I felt like it was time to make some more egg portraits:

I also made this present for my friend's daughter out of bits of an old failed experiment:

I love to repurpose things. Some of my best work comes from a sort of back-and-forth between destructive and creative processes. Occasionally, when I'm working on a big piece, I get most of the way through and realize that (most likely due to a number of deliciously irresponsible risks on my part) the composition is irresolvable, or the paint has gotten muddy in places and killed the luminous quality that might have been. There's this moment when I think to myself, "If I could just start over, and change x, y or z, this painting would be spectacular!" So that's what I do. Which leaves the first version free for cutting, sewing, and all kinds of other interesting experiments. These experiments aren't completely footloose and fancy-free; they're carefully directed by my active search for a new narrative. My blog header, a painting entitled Birdwoman is my favorite example of this because it catapulted me into so many new ways of making images.

Along these same lines of destruction/creation, I recently saw an exhibition of Julie Weiman's work at the New Art Center, where I teach. In her artist statement, Julie wrote about making images that were "a little bit ruined." Isn't that a beautiful notion?

Illustration Friday: Subterranean

2010-03-18T19:56:00.006-04:00

Here's my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme, "subterranean." I found this theme to be quite convenient, since I'd already sketched out some preliminary drawings for a series of burrow paintings a few weeks ago. The photo above is a bit blurry. Luckily I also took some detail shots so you can get a better look:

That pebbly sort of pattern there is inspired by the pattern on this quilt that was made by my great, great grandmother:

I also bought 21 new 5" x 5" wood panels today. I've become addicted to making tiny things. It warms my heart to look at them–whole stacks of possibility.

Minions Wanted

2010-03-17T11:42:00.003-04:00

I'm spending the day with Marcus and Petunia, the little fireflies that I created for my children's book portfolio. The documentation, the digital correcting, the figuring out of software, and all of that other noisy stuff I don't like doing has taken me significantly longer than it took me to create the original illustrations. This is why I need some minions. Minions with excellent computer skills.
But I think I finally have these colors right. So if your monitor is properly calibrated (like mine is supposed to be), you'll be able to see these in all their glory.

Prints

2010-03-14T15:33:00.007-04:00

I've made prints of my forest creature series available on redbubble. Just click on one of the images below to navigate your way over there. The foxes, bear and deer are up there as well.

Funkadelic Geese and a Squirrel Makeover

2010-03-12T20:26:00.006-05:00

Part of the reason why I like this newest painting so much is that I get the impression that these geese are marching in time to some '70s Funk. Wonka-chicka, wonka-chicka. Do you hear the funky beats?The squirrel painting got a fairly extreme makeover:My favorite college professor used to say, "If you don't have the composition, you won't have the painting." And that composition that I made yesterday was blech. I like this one much better. And I like this squirrel better too.

It's fun to obsessively rearrange them.

Squirrels

2010-03-11T21:46:00.004-05:00

Hmmmm. I think I'll refine this one a bit tomorrow. More fluff in the tail, and some work on that back leg. My squirrel-in-action anatomy reference was this picture that my husband took last November:Needless to say there are some gaps in my understanding of squirrel musculature.

Honk if you spot who's coming next:)

Illustration Friday: Brave

2010-03-09T21:54:00.004-05:00

The first thing that popped into my head when I read this week's Illustration Friday theme, "brave," was a painting I made last year of a young girl called Helen. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Helen personally, I get the sense that she was one gutsy girl. By some mysterious coincidence, just as I was imagining what Helen's adult life might have been like, this new piece of evidence surfaced:Just as I suspected! She was a great adventurer! The only mystery that plagues me is the incongruity between Helen's 1920s style clothing and the Cherokee class 10-gun brig in the background. My (wikipedia-educated) understanding is that most of those ships had been decommissioned by the late 19th century. What can this mean?! Possibly that I watch too much LOST? Oh, and here is the original painting of Helen as a child:
Just in case you weren't in the mood to click on the link above;) Didn't want you to miss it.

When Whimsy and Science Get Together

2010-03-07T11:24:00.007-05:00

They make beautiful music.

Quite a bit gets cut off by the format of my blog. Click on the video to watch the full screen on YouTube.

Rabbit Ears and the Story of a New Sink in an Old House

2010-03-05T09:00:00.007-05:00

My latest work in progress. I did not touch the saturation slider–it really is this bright.

I'm having the best time working on this series. It feels sort of like these critters are painting themselves, and that I'm just a pair of hands along for the ride.

Each painting feels like a surprise. This is the first time that the idea of parting with work has given me a heart pang. It seems contradictory, since the process of making these was relatively quick and carefree when compared with the monster narrative works on paper that take me months to complete. But maybe it's because these are portraits and I feel attached to the subjects themselves. A little piece of me does feel like they're real. As a child I couldn't bear it (no pun intended!) if one of my stuffed animals was handled carelessly. Perhaps this is just a continuation of that particular crazy.

And here's a situation ripe for metaphors, similes, analogies and/or parallels:

Our bathroom faucet was acting funny, so our landlord got us a new sink. Notice that even though he is lovely, shiny and new, he looks a bit chagrined? That's because the installation of this one little faucet revealed a whole mess of old-house plumbing shenanigans. The whole town of Waltham is involved at this point, there are spray paint hieroglyphs and orange cones up and down our whole street, and this is what is happening right now in the front yard:

Anyone want to offer up a nice metaphor? Or a simile? Boston's Big Dig is a pretty obvious parallel.

IF:Perspective

2010-03-04T20:14:00.005-05:00

Here is my finished interpretation of this week's Illustration Friday theme. I played around with a few different meanings of "perspective" until this story emerged. In the end it turned out to be a little love note to my husband. The text reads, I see what you mean. Here's a side view:

The sides of the box are still in progress:) I also worked more on my forest animal series today, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post.

Yesterday

2010-03-03T08:22:00.007-05:00

I started this new piece:

I drew the houses in graphite on mylar. The flower pattern is watercolor on cut rice paper, mounted on watercolor on arches. I'm going to add some other tidbits on Thursday, including some text:

And I love these illustrations by Ooli, posted recently on Pikaland.

Patterns

2010-02-28T21:30:00.004-05:00

I like them:) And I like these things too:

Daffodils on design*sponge last Thursday.
More whimsical Wonderland fun (and a dauntingly brilliant interpretation of this week's Illustration Friday theme) on Art Spark Theatre.
This blog, and especially the poem at the end of this post, that I found through Art Spark Theatre as well.
Angora rabbits.

A Little Less Conversation

2010-02-26T18:22:00.004-05:00

Typically, I LOVE to talk. I call it "sharing," because when you do something incessantly, it seems like a good idea to give it a really positive spin. But today I feel like being quiet. So quietly, briefly, this is what I did today:

I made this little painting.

It's the third installment in this series:

I started the next image before I left the studio:

I think it will be my favorite.

Illustration Friday: Propagate

2010-02-25T21:49:00.004-05:00

Here's my submission to this week's IF theme. I like the word "propagate." It sounds clinical, but the meaning is ripe (no pun intended) with narrative possibilities. Those pale purple smudges were not originally intended to look like bird poop, but the resemblance turns out to be quite fitting;) This piece is acrylic on a cut and collaged map.

2010-02-23T21:53:00.004-05:00

Just getting started on a new piece. Here it is after the first few layers:
I came up with the general idea for this image a few days ago while I was lying around being sick. If it turns out badly, I'll blame it on the mucus. As usual, I'm working out the particulars as I go:

I found the right seed shape last night while I was making soup.

And I borrowed the deep green-blue from my x-acto cutting board. Those grid lines are going to make an appearance as well.

Cats with Flaming Ears and Invisible Flaming Tails

2010-02-18T18:21:00.005-05:00

My favorite conversation from yesterday went like this:

Six-year-old: "Look! I'm making four cats and their ears and tails are on fire!" Looking down, he realizes that he hasn't drawn tails on the cats and quickly adds, "But their tails are invisible."

It took me seven years of higher education and a life-changing lecture by conceptual artist, Nayland Blake to (re)discover the process that this first-grader embraces so naturally: make the work that you are compelled to make, and then look at it and figure out what it's about. This (admittedly overused) quote by Picasso is just so, so true.

And here's something lovely from the backyard:

[T]iny Happy People

2010-02-15T19:48:00.005-05:00

I stress "there's no such thing as perfect" in all of my art classes. But secretly I think that everything they make is truly, purely, absolutely perfect. I'm such a hypocrite;)

Painting Withdrawal

2010-02-14T12:55:00.004-05:00

Last week was filled with a lot (a LOT!) of learning about computer-related things and very little art-making. My rather hasty Illustration Friday drawing and this little sketch of our dvi cable were the only pictures I made all week. Although the dvi cable drawing was purely functional, I'm still counting it since the guys at the Apple Store appreciated it so much.

Next week will be completely devoted to teaching kids at the Arlington Center for the Arts School Vacation Program and waiting breathlessly for my monitor calibrator to arrive in the mail. So I'm gearing up for another light studio week. But I know that the wildly creative kid energy and the spirit of collegiality at the ACA will help fill the void.

Baking helps too. I liken it to a sort of methadone for painting withdrawal. I made orange cupcakes to bring to a dinner party:

And I'm making bread today:
So that should take the edge off a bit;). Also, Masterpiece Classics is on tonight. And that is an antidote for any ailment.

Can't......put......it......down......

2010-02-10T17:16:00.005-05:00

Do you like mysteries, particularly those involving murder and a wealth of intriguing and poetic physical evidence (ie. a dead body in the cucumber patch and a missing piece of pie on the window sill)?

Do you like English manor houses (even if you've never actually been in one, on the grounds of one, or in the same country as one (unless you count the airport))?

Would you like to view the world from the point of view of an eleven-year-old pigtail-wearing, bespectacled, bicycle-riding, murder-solving, impossibly erudite, fabulously cheeky chemist?

Yes to all three, you say? Hey! Me too. What a coincidence. Alan Bradley's debut crime novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, has all of three of these excellent features. It is also extremely well written. In fact, the voice of the first person narrator, Flavia de Luce, the eleven-year-old crime solver mentioned above, is so well written and hilarious that I wasn't even disappointed when I solved the mystery before she did.

Illustration Friday: Muddy

2010-02-09T13:17:00.006-05:00

Synchronized wallowing was the highlight of everyone's week.

This week's theme put me in the mood for something silly. Scratching black lines recklessly onto the paper made for a very satisfying morning.

Back Up and Running

2010-02-05T21:42:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the inaugural blog post created on "Kaetlyn's Computer II," my shiny new hard drive! We had a "teach a man to fish moment" over here at the Wilcox-Able house last night, during which I installed my own hard drive. I was shocked at how easy it was. I didn't have to learn a single spell or incantation. I just had to screw and unscrew some teeny, tiny screws.

I started a new series of little paintings this week. I'm thinking of them as short stories. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember the original, black and white version of the first piece below.

The stylized vines and leaves swirling around behind the animals come from this book on early American decorative patterns that I found in the library:

Do you like my hat? I like it so much that I wore it all day in my studio. Charley's Aunt Pat made the hat and my student, Susan, made the flower pin.

Uh Oh.

2010-02-01T09:45:00.003-05:00

My husband gave me Adobe Creative Design Suite for Christmas. Best gift EVER. Especially since, even though I'm only part time college faculty, I still qualify for the educational discount. Huzzah! I've been scraping by without Photoshop for years. And now that I have it, along with InDesign and Illustrator, the world is my oyster. With just a couple of clickety-clicks my digital images match my paintings exactly. When I realized that I could easily adjust the hues and vibrancy of individual colors without affecting the whole image I almost fainted. And don't even get me started about how much fun it is to create page layouts.

That's the good news. The bad news is that this morning, as I was rocking out with InDesign, CRASH! Like, a really big crash. The kind of crash where, when you try to reboot you get a flashing folder with a question mark icon instead of a happy little apple (I didn't get a picture of that because I was too busy panicking). The kind of crash where, after you follow all of the trouble shooting steps that should fix the problem in "most cases," you learn that your particular problem falls under the category of "rare and possibly dire cases."

But the other piece of good news is that I'm married to one computer-saavy guy who plans to spend his evening trying to locate my startup disk. Is it just me, or was that last sentence the best unintentional, nerdiest euphemism ever?

Illustration Friday: Clumsy

2010-01-28T15:34:00.003-05:00

Click on the image for a closer look.

The text reads:

Her new friend was so amiable and interesting that Margaret quickly saw beyond Emmaline's clumsiness, and barely even noticed the frequent appearance of her long, black tongue during tea.

This little pencil drawing is my submission to this week's Illustration Friday theme, "clumsy." My posts have been sparser than usual lately, as I clear away some cobwebs and adjust to some new things. I'll be starting all kinds of juicy new projects next week and will have many more good things to share;)

Wilderness Part Two

2010-01-22T21:25:00.002-05:00

Here's the completed version of this drawing. It reminds me a little bit of Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'Herbe, only it takes place in a surreal sort of Hundred Acre Wood and no one is naked. It's been a productive week, and now I'm stuffed to the gills with Mexican food and ready for a nice, early bedtime. Bon Weekend!

Illustration Friday: Wilderness

2010-01-21T22:30:00.004-05:00

Click on the image for a closer look, and stay tuned tomorrow to see the other half of this drawing. It wasn't quite finished when my brain gave out for the evening;)

I Never Knew!

2010-01-20T16:29:00.005-05:00

I've always kind of dismissed Audubon's paintings because I thought they were sort of boring. But that's because, until yesterday, I'd never seen these:

Shenanigans galore!

I photographed all of these images from The New-York Historical Society's John James Audubon: The Watercolors for The Birds of America.

This morning at school I slipped and fell on the snow pack. It was truly spectacular: a plow truck driver stopped to let me cross his path, and as I stepped gingerly out in front of him, SWOOSH! Down I went, flat on my back. I kept sliding for a few feet after the initial impact, and did a sort of half-turn, spinny maneuver with my legs in the air.

Slow and Steady

2010-01-18T20:20:00.008-05:00

That was the theme of the day. I started the morning with some slow, steady shoveling. My shoveling strategy is based on the idea that while I may possess limited amounts of brawn, my patience knows no bounds.

It was a slow and steady painting day as well. I worked on refining things and adding some details. On days like these I don't have any truly earth-shaking progress to share, but that's how the process goes sometimes. Beginning an image always feels so dramatic. Everything happens so fast. Finishing an image is not nearly as sexy, but it's a billion times more fun than shoveling snow.

Do you see how Marcus will get into the room to rescue Petunia?

I know, I know. The guy saves the girl? For real? What kind of Wellesley Woman am I? It was originally the other way around, but I can't fight the flow of character development. It's all very justified. I promise.

Heya

2010-01-14T19:09:00.005-05:00

Here's an illustration that I've been working on for the past couple of days.....and a bit of paper towel as well.

There are all kinds of fantastic shenanigans going on over at Art Spark Theater this week, including this, this and this. And in response to that last link, I am one of the few green things around these parts today.

Five completely different shades of one color in a single outfit must be some kind of record.

Whoooo Lived Here?

2010-01-11T22:30:00.004-05:00

I am captivated by this house. Sometimes I drive out of my way so I can peek at it as much as possible before it's torn down. Who do you think lived here? What do you think it looks like inside? My imagination can't top Edward Gorey's when it comes to creepy old house imagery. I bet it looks quietly sinister like this:

and this:

Both images are from Gorey's The West Wing, a work of pure genius.

Illustration Friday: Confined

2010-01-09T09:25:00.003-05:00

Pen and ink on paper (with a bit of gouache used here and there as white-out;)). The caption reads "The indignity of her predicament got the better of her and she began to shout." Click on the image to see it bigger.